


A new age

by Caps108



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caps108/pseuds/Caps108
Summary: One year has passed since the Second Wizarding War and as if the past years weren't weird enough, new witches and wizards that have gone under the radar have been popping up all over the country, many of which haven't been displaying any signs of magic abilities before. To support students in navigating the situation, Hogwarts has extended its education to University.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Jesus, what am I doing? I thought to myself as I stared at the pub that was discreetly located between my favorite bookshop and the record store. The place looked rather dingy from the outside, one of those places you knew to avoid if you have ever watched a horror movie before.

Was I really going to step foot inside there? For all I know this was all a setup to kidnap me, rather than the gateway to the so-called wizarding world. Anyone with half a brain would've thrown out the letter and went on with their lives. You wouldn't believe a suspicious letter from a far relative, saying that he wants to send you a great amount of money either, right? But even before opening the letter, I felt a strange pull to it. A pull strong enough for me to travel to London on my free day and find out if it was true or not.

"Well, here goes nothing," I mumbled to myself as I pocketed the piece of parchment and set foot inside the Leaky Cauldron. I expected many things. A plain old pub, an abandoned shop, a raging serial killer, but I didn't expect this. Everywhere I looked, magic was present. Either that or there were some great special effects going on. A broom sweeping the floor on its own, cups being filled with the flick of a wand, a freaking wand! Creatures that were strangely human, but also not. I didn't know where to look, for every time I looked in another direction I saw something even weirder.

"New here?" A voice popped up from behind me, making me jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the girl said as I turned around to face her. She looked normal. Pretty, with her curly hair framing her face almost perfectly, but still normal.

"It's just that we saw you walking in and looking a little lost," she continued, looking over her shoulder where two boys sat at a table, one with dark hair and round glasses, the other with fiery ginger hair.

"Oh, ehm..." I pondered over what to say for a couple of seconds, "well, yes. I kinda am. Lost I mean." I stumbled over my words, "But I'm also new, I guess?" Realising that I was only making myself more awkward, I stopped talking. This wasn't like me, but then again, it's not like this was particularly normal to me.

"Are you one of the new witches?" She asked, catching onto the situation. I nodded, smiling awkwardly. "And you came here by yourself? Didn't they send someone to accompany you?" I shook my head, were they supposed to? The girl sighed loudly, shaking her head in annoyance. "I can't believe it, I've told McGonagall that just because someone is of age doesn't mean that they can handle this on their own." McGonagall?

At my obvious confusion, the girl smiled sympathetically/ "Sorry, where are my manners. My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger." She stuck out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Calliope Jenkins, but Cal is fine." I introduced myself, shaking Hermione's hand.

"Boys, this is Cal. I'm going to show her around." She announced before grabbing me by the arm and making for the rear exit, leading into Diagon Alley. I had no time to protest, even though I would've only done so to be polite. This was not how I expected it to go, but I'd gladly accept the help to navigate this place.

A few hours later, Hermione and I were nearly done with the tour, and the shopping. My letter failed to mention that I was supposed to attend summer school in order to catch up on subject matter. How on earth I was going to cram 6 years of studies in 2 months of time was beyond me, but I had little choice in the matter. Of course I could choose not to attend, but I felt the same pull that I had felt when receiving the letter and frankly, there wasn't a lot to say goodbye to.

"Well, I think you're almost set," Hermione said as we made our way to the final stop.

"Are you sure about lending me your old robes, and your books?" I asked, still feeling uncomfortable with receiving all this help from someone I barely knew.

"Of course, I have already bought new ones anyway. And you'll get in trouble without your robes." I smiled at her, grateful for the help even though I wish I didn't need it. But Hermione had stressed that it was important for me to save the little money I have for a good wand. It was moments like these where I wish that my parents had been a bit more supportive throughout my life.

"So, how do I know which wand to get?" I asked. Hermione had made it clear that the right wand was of utmost importance, which made me slightly concerned about having no knowledge on the subject.

"Oh, you don't choose the wand. The wand chooses you." She said simply, like it was the most normal phenomenon on this earth.

"A wand chooses me?" I ask, an eyebrow arched in disbelief.

"Just wait and see." She replied, an excited smile plastered on her lips. If she says so… I thought to myself whilst stepping foot inside Ollivanders, finding it unbelievable that a wand would choose their wizard.

Inside the shop and old man was talking to the same boys from the Leaky Cauldron who turned their attention to us upon hearing the bells of the entrance.

"Oh, hey Hermione, ..." the boy with glasses started.

"Cal," I said, introducing myself.

"She's one of the new students starting summer school next week." Hermione explained, before turning towards me. "These are Harry and Ron," the boys subsequently flashed me a smile.

"Are you new here too?" I asked, since they seemed to be looking at wands.

"I wish, we've been around for too long," Ron jokes, before gesturing to the wand in Harry's hand. "Harry's just been having some trouble with his wand."

"Yes, but everything seems to be just fine." The old man, Ollivander I assume, buts in. "So young lady, what can I do for you?" before I had even answered him, the man started to climb a ladder, pulling out a couple of boxes from the shelves.

"Ehh, I'm here for a wand." I said, though he had already seemed to pick up on that.

"Yes, yes. Try this one dear. 12 ½ inch, a dragon heartstring core, made out of vine wood " He handed me the wand, motioning for me to give it a flick. Unsure, I flicked the wand upwards, causing it to violently sputter bits of magic before its effects quickly reduced to nothing.

"Alright, not that one," Ollivander took the wand from me and shoved another one in my hands. I tested it in my palm, changing my grip a couple of times before settling on a subpar grip and giving this wand a flick. Where the other one had given off a burst of violent magic, this one did absolutely nothing.

"You know what they say, third's a charm." The man said as he handed me yet another wand. This one felt better in my hands, almost natural and had just the right weight to it.

"10 ½ inches long, made from redwood with a dragon heartstring core. Go on, give it a whirl." At a flick of my wand, a controlled ray of light danced out of the tip, giving what looked like an intricate lightshow before slowly dying down.

"There we go," Ollivander said proudly, looking at the wand like an artist might look at their art. It was when I payed what little money I had to purchase the wand that it dawned on me.

This letter was no joke. Hogwarts was real, the wizarding word was real, and me? I'm a freaking witch.


	2. Chapter 2

One would think wizards have a faster way of going from A to B than non wizards, or muggles as I had learned they're called. But alas, I had to endure a 9 hour train ride to arrive at Hogwarts, and the Hogwarts Express was like any other train. The journey to the train was arguably more exciting than the train ride itself.

But when I stepped out of the train my excitement instantly grew again, almost making me feel like a kid when it's finally tall enough to get on the rollercoaster. And I wasn't the only one feeling this excitement. Even though our group was small, we somehow managed to make it sound like there were hundreds of us chatting, laughing and aweing over the sight of the castle.

It wasn't until a tall- I'm talking extremely tall man cleared his throat loudly that we all stopped talking.

"Follow me kids, ehh..." He paused for a second, seeing that we were not the usual group of twelve year olds that usually stood before him. Most of us were around 18, like me, and even though there were some 16 year olds, you could hardly call us kids anymore.

"Lads," he settled on "if you could all get in a boat in groups of 3, I'll be escorting ye to the castle." The man waited for all of us to get in the boats and then stepped into the last one, taking up nearly all the space in the boat.

"So, do we row there ourselves?" The blonde girl in my boat asked, but before anybody answered, the boat started rowing itself.

"I guess not," I said, clearly perplexed at the display of magic. Looking over to the girl in our boat I saw that I wasn't the only one. "At least this is new to most of us, I'm Calliope, but you can call me Cal."

"Daisy," she introduced herself and I smiled. Such a fitting name. With her wavy hair, round hazel eyes and soft facial features she looked friendly, trustworthy even. She turned to look at the other girl sitting in the boat who had remained quiet until now. "And you are?"

"Sam," she said, saluting us jokingly "which year are you guys in?"

"I'm a 7th year," Daisy said eagerly, "but I'm hoping they let me go to uni after summer school, I'm a quick learner you see." I could see Sam raising an eyebrow, but she didn't say anything.

"7th," I said when she looked at me questioningly. "And I'm fine with that, I don't know shit about magic." I didn't mean to call out Daisy by this, but the look on her face and the grin on Sam's face made me realise that I did.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Oh come on Callie," she said, patting me on the back "what's life if you can't joke around a bit?" Her eyes fixed on Daisy again, who's friendly and relaxed aura had done a 180.

"What year are you in, then?" Daisy asked with a smile, trying to move past the joke. Her stiff posture betrayed her smile though. The grin wouldn't disappear from Sam's face and neither would her arm that now rested on my shoulder.

"Same as Callie here," Callie. Was she teasing me? I moved to the side a bit, uneasy at the lingering arm on my shoulder. She looked at me for a second, her grey eyes scanning me from head to toe, and then casually dropped her arm. If every person at this school was as peculiar as her, there was a lot waiting for me.

A bit later we made it to the castle. Hagrid, which is how the tall man introduced himself, told us that the headmistress had done her best to create a 'spectacular' sorting ceremony for us. Apparently being sorted was the highlight of many students' time at Hogwarts.

"Sounds an awful lot like picking teams during sports," I said quietly.

"Well, we all know that's one of the most anxiety provoking situations in one's adolescence," Sam commented. I nod, because she was right. Few things are as unnerving as being placed in a social hierarchy in front of everyone.

"It's nothing like that," Daisy joined in "a hat chooses for you."

"Oh great, that's exactly what I want. For a hat to tell me if I'm popular or not." Sam said sarcastically and I couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't wrong.

Our banter fell silent once we stepped into the great hall. The castle in its entirety was impressive, but this was something else. Candles floated mid air, lighting the place up. The ceiling was a perfect image of the sky outside, so perfect that I could even make out some of the stars out there. Four long tables lined the hall, leading up to a small podium where several people sat at a long table. In front of the table stood a small wooden stool with a hat on top. An actual witches hat like you saw in the movies, except this one had the vague lines of face on it.

"Welcome, students. Please, come a bit closer." A woman on the podium, who I assumed to be headmistress, beckoned us forward.

"Today is a very special day, for all of us." She paused, glanced over all of us and then smiled warmly.

"For the first time in history, we will be sorting grown wizards and witches into their Hogwarts houses." The woman spread her arms, motioning to us.

"But before we continue, let me introduce myself. I am Professor McGonnagal, your Headmistress, and I am very pleased to welcome you all to Hogwarts. There is a lot to learn, but those aren't worries for tonight." The lights dimmed behind us, leading all of our attention to the podium before us.

"Tonight, you will be sorted into one of four houses. There is Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff." She said as she picked up the hat from its stool. "As per tradition, you will come forward when your name is called and take a seat on this stool. The Sorting Head will then sort you into your appropriate house. Normally, you would take a seat at your House's table, but since most students aren't present yet, you may join our volunteers right over there."

I looked to my left and a sense of calm fell over me when I recognized Hermione standing amongst them. Even though I've only seen her once before, it was nice to see a familiar face.

The sorting officially started and Professor McGonnagal started calling our names one after another. Daisy got sorted into Gryffindor, which seemed fitting based on my limited knowledge on the houses. I have avoided thinking about which house I'd be placed in, to be honest. See, I never really excelled in anything. I wasn't particularly kind, smart, or brave, but I also wasn't mean or dumb or a coward. I was just… me and at this moment, that didn't feel like enough.

"Calliope Jenkins," McGonnagal called out and it took me a couple seconds, and a push in the back from Sam, before I actually started walking. I took my place on the stool and closed my eyes, not knowing what else to do with them.

"Hmm, yes, I see." The hat mumbled. See what? Just tell me. I thought to myself, annoyed at how long the hat was taking. Though in reality it was taking just as long as it did for everyone else.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat roared, leaving me thoroughly confused. Was I that much of a bitch? I got off the stool and made my way towards Hermione and all of the students that had already been sorted.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, reading the expression on my face. "Just because you're in Slytherin doesn't mean you're a bad person." I know she meant well, but it didn't settle my nerves. Hermione herself was the one who told me about Slytherin and how most of Slytherin house had been on the wrong side of the war. What did that mean for me?

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat roared again, the second slytherin to be sorted today. When I looked up I was met with Sam's eyes, her signature grin already becoming familiar to me. "I guess we're in this together, Callie," she said when she joined me and even though I had only met her today, that idea was strangely comforting.


	3. Chapter 3

Following the sorting ceremony all of us took place at the Hufflepuff table, to split up into our houses already would be ridiculous since there were only 32 of us. Still, all of us had sat down near the other students of our house. I sat down across from Hermione, with Sam and the rest of Slytherin to my right and Gryffindor to my left. The group of Slytherins was small, only consisting of 4 if you didn’t count the platinum blonde guy sitting at the end of the table. He had introduced himself as Draco Malfoy, but only upon someone's request. After that he remained silent, barely touching his food while he observed the four of us.

“Can I help you?” it sounded to my right. Brady Lester, a tall guy with a large hooked nose and messy brown hair, cockily arched an eyebrow at Draco. Was he seriously about to start something right now, not even 24 hours in yet?

“I don’t know, can you?” Draco fixed his gaze entirely on Brady, making it feel as if he was staring down on the guy even though Brady had a good 3 inches on him. 

Brady shook his head, lowering his gaze to the table. My eyes were still focused on the scene, weirdly impressed by how quickly this guy could assert dominance. 

“Don’t mind him,” Hermione cut in, smiling even though her words had a bitter undertone. “He’s just a bit moody.” 

“Alright Slytherins,” Draco abruptly stood up from his seat, ignoring Hermione entirely “It’s bedtime, let’s go.” 

“But we’re still eating.” I protested, more confused than anything. 

Silver eyes looked me up and down. “Tomorrow you can eat for as long as you like, but for tonight I’m your babysitter and I’m done. Which means you’re done.” 

I glanced over at Hermione, who shrugged apologetically as the rest of the slytherins got up. For a second I debated ignoring him. How hard could it be to find the dungeons on my own? But reason overtook me at the last moment, I was going to have to live with these people for quite some time. Making enemies was probably not the best idea.

“It’s alright, see you tomorrow?” I asked, granting Hermione a brief smile.

“See you tomorrow,” she leaned slightly over the table to get closer “and don’t let that boy get to you. He’s all bark, no bite.” I grinned, winking at her as I got up. “I won’t.”

“Let’s go, Callie. I want to see what these dungeons are all about.” Sam joked, pulling me with her to follow the rest of the group. “Also, do you think the mood comes for free with being sorted into Slytherin?” She whispered out of earshot from Draco.

“I’m not sure, but if not, I want a refund.”

The next morning before breakfast, Draco gathered the four of us in the common room, which was Slytherin in every way you could imagine. A green hue fell over the entire room with the only natural light source coming from the lake. The rest of the light came from green tinted lamps that hung from a low ceiling, casting soft shadows over the different shapes and decorations around the place. I sat myself down on a leather armchair, right next to the softly crackling fireplace.

“This,” Draco started handing out some papers, “is your schedule for the summer. Since you mud-” he paused for a second before clearing his throat and continuing. “Since you are new to magic, there is a lot to learn. The goal is to have you participate in your age appropriate year.” He looked at each of us individually. “This means that you have a lot of work to do. As Slytherins, I expect nothing but the best from you.” His eyes stuck on me and I saw a little twitch in his eyebrows before he made his way over to me and pulled me up from my seat. 

“That starts with presentation, Jenkins.” he spat. Why was he so annoyed at me? “Fix that tie.” 

“Don’t stress it.” Sam said when Draco left. She walked up to me and started fixing my tie. “I’ve heard some stuff about the boy. My guess is he’s just conflicted with himself. Jesus Cal, what have you done with this tie?” 

“And he has to take it out on us?” 

She grinned, looking up from the tie. “Not us. It’s all you that’s making him angry.” 

“Great, and how exactly am I doing that?” 

Sam steps away, satisfied with the result. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just because you’re pretty.” Her grin grew as my cheeks quickly turned red. “I’m just teasing you, Callie,” she went on, “though it is true.”

“Oh hush,” I rolled my eyes and turned around before she could see the full extent of my reddened cheeks. “Let’s go, he’ll surely have it out for me if I’m late to our first class.” 

We hurried to class, stopping by the great hall to grab a coffee before trying to find our way to the classroom. I wasn’t sure what the rules were regarding food and drinks during classes, but we didn’t exactly have time to sip our coffee in the great hall and coffee was simply not optional. Luckily we spotted another group of students on our way to class and we decided to join them, making it easy to find the right classroom on time. We even made it there 5 minutes early. 

“Good to see you’ve made it,” Brady commented when we sat down next to him and Dan, all of us Slytherins seated at one table in the back. He looked behind him and I followed his gaze to Draco standing at the back of the class with Hermione and two other students. 

“Oh come on,” I remarked, knowing what Brady actually meant to say, “he doesn’t like you either.” The boy just shrugged, turning to face the front of the classroom again. 

At that moment a man walked in, swiftly making his way to the front of the classroom. He limped slightly, but his tall stature and confident movements disguised it pretty well. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought he came across as intimidating, because the classroom had fallen silent as soon as he stood in front of the chalkboard. 

“Welcome to your wizardry crash course,” he said in a flat tone “prepare to work and to work hard. If you fail to take this seriously you can see yourself out of the door.” His eyes glazed over each of us and I couldn’t tell if he was being condescending or if this was the man’s usual face. 

“Over the next few weeks I will be teaching you about charms potions and general magical occurrences.” He continued as he started writing on the chalkboard. “By now you surely will have met your house’s tutor,” he gestured towards Draco and the others. “They have been so generous as to sacrifice their own time to your study process, don’t waste our time.” He turned back around to face the classroom.

“Today we will start with basic charms, but before we do that, are there any questions?”

A boy two seats in front of me wearily raised his hand. “Sir, who are you?” I stifled a laugh, it being a perfectly comical complement to this whole scenario. 

The man raised an eyebrow, seeming unamused at how the boy had phrased the question.

“I am Severus Snape, potions master of Hogwarts and you will address me as Professor Snape. I usually do not spend my time teaching silly incantations or wand waving, but for the purpose of this crash course I have made an exception.” He then turned around, leaving no more room for further questions and started writing more on the chalkboard as he explained the basics of charms to us.


End file.
